I am posting this here because I want a factual answer, not a lot of “I jumped the shark. It smells like cat food” responses.
So, what was the first example in the Simpsons of an inside joke. Was it “Gee, the Simpsons on a T-shirt! Who woulda thought of that!” I seem to remember this as being fairly poorly drawn and was amazed that they were self-referential even back then.
The earliest one I can think of right off is Bart’s line from Kamp Krusty:
Granted, season 4 seems really late for the first.
I seem to remember a Tracey Ullman short (1987-88 time frame) in which Maggie was playing with a one-eared bunny doll who looked a lot like the Bongo character from Groening’s Life in Hell comic strip.
Well when Marge got Itchy & Scratchy tossed off the air she mades several statements against violence in cartoons and cartoons in general. Many of which I assume are pokes at both their show and critics of it. That’s 2nd season.
In that same episode, the Itchy and Scratchy writers and animators were caricatures of the Simpsons writers and animators (according to the DVD commentary).
One early inside-joke had Lisa laughing in an evil manner over some way she was going to get back at Bart. When Marge asked her what she was laughing about she said "Oh, I just thought of a joke I heard on ‘Herman’s Head’ ".
Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa, had a short lived role in the equally short lived series “Herman’s Head”. The big joke is of course that it is almost physically impossible for her to have been laughing at a anything heard on Herman’s Head.
The one where Reverend Lovejoy said “Get thee to Cafe Society?”
If it’s a true inside joke, you’re not likely to get it. I’m sure the writers put them in all the time; in fact, I know of one that would truly qualify as an inside joke.
My sociology prof in college had a son who wrote for the Simpsons. The prof was affiliated with a dorm whose unofficial rallying cry was “Death from Above!” (their building was the tallest on campus). As a nod to his dad, in the episode “Bart the General,” he had it mentioned:
…though of course, Death From Above is good ol’ military slogan that’s been used since at least WWII. So it’s a regular joke as well as an in-joke.
I second 3waygeek’s suggestion.
I read the OP as asking when did the Simpsons first have a joke based on referencing the fact that there’s a TV show called “The Simpsons”? Or when the characters first addressed the “fourth wall”, or otherwise indicated that they were aware that they on a TV show?
No clue what year this is in, but the one i remember best is an episode where Homer was a mascot for a baseball team and due to his new fame got his picture on a Tshirt at the concession stand. Then Marge sees it and exclaims something along the lines of who would have ever thought that a Simpson would ever get on a T shirt.
“A Simpson on a T-Shirt” was in the second season, so it’s up there in the running for first inside joke.
What season was it when they were watching the Macy’s thanksgiving parade on TV, and a Bart balloon goes by?
Hmm, it looks like the “Herman’s Head” reference is season 3.
All your Simpson needs- check out the search archive bottom right of page. 25 hits on “inside joke” (keep quotes)
Here’s a whole list. Bart Gets an F, the first episode aired in the second season (third produced) has Dr. J. Loren Pryor comments that Bart appears to be an underachiever, though he seems to be proud of it. This is a play on a Bart Simpson T-Shirt slogan which was popular at the time.
Mobo are you sure that its not the other way around and the shirts reflected his attitude? I could be wrong and usually am…
Although Bart can be accurately described as “Underachiever and proud of it,” he never stated he was on the show.
The one with Bart as the preacher had the Church’s bulletin board saying “Life In Hell”, an obvious reference to Groening’s strip.
Although there was the “snow day” episode where Bart & Co get into the personal records and, while reading his personal record says:
“underachiever and proud of it? How old is this thing?”
Marge made a reference to allergies. Bart was allergic to imitation butterscotch flavoring. This was when butterfingers was a big sponsor.